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Quick response to BSE issue reaches nationwide audience Concerned people gathered at extension offices in Iowa and 16 other states on Jan. 7 to hear Iowa State University Extension and USDA specialists speak on BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), commonly referred to as mad cow disease. Joining them were 600 Internet users viewing the two-hour presentation live online and uncounted numbers of RFD-TV viewers. This nationwide audience wanted to ask questions of the experts and access information. They turned to ISU Extension via national satellite TV and sent their questions by e-mail, fax and phone. “The entire industry benefited from this BSE broadcast,” said Bill Scheitler, a LeMars cattle producer who serves on the National Meat Board and is president-elect of the Iowa Cattlemen. “Not only cattle producers but retailers and anyone involved in the beef business realized how Iowa State University Extension is on top of the issue.” Two weeks earlier the investigation of the United States’ first-ever suspected mad cow case had been announced. Phones had begun ringing in offices and homes of ISU Extension beef field specialists and at the Iowa Beef Center on campus. People in the beef industry had questions and were calling ISU Extension for answers. ISU news services released a media statement on Dec. 23, quoting Dr. Nolan Hartwig, ISU Extension veterinarian. Doug Cooper interviewed Dr. Hartwig and John Lawrence, ISU Extension livestock economist and Iowa Beef Center director on WOI radio on Christmas Eve to address the issue publicly. But it wasn’t enough and the calls continued. Everyone wanted to hear from the experts, from the ones who had been researching mad cow disease and its effects on the market. On Dec. 29, Lawrence decided there was value in a broad dissemination of information. The Jan. 7 satellite TV broadcast was scheduled. Extension staff pulled together to make the timely production of the program a reality. Lawrence credits the power of e-mail for rapidly publicizing the program to ISU Extension staff and to his counterparts in other states. Sixteen states responded, asking to use the program. County offices signed on as satellite downlink hosts, while county directors and field specialists contacted clients and media with information about the program. Lawrence’s Beef Center staff joined forces with Extension’s Educational Materials and Marketing Services in planning the broadcast on ISU’s earth-based C-band uplink, the technology that makes it possible to transmit video programming via satellite. Extension communication specialists not only made the program available through Extension’s satellite system, but made the contact necessary to have the program aired on RFD-TV and collaborated with University of Nebraska and Auburn University to get the program streamed via Internet. “This demonstrates ISU Extension’s ability to stay on top of the issues, and when an event of this magnitude comes along, present the facts in a straightforward and timely manner,” Scheitler said. “Through rebroadcasts, Internet streaming and the Beef Center Web site, this broadcast continues to be a resource for anyone wanting BSE information. People continue to be referred to it.” Broadcast questions and answers and additional information are posted on the Iowa Beef Center’s Web site. A video of the broadcast, VID 0049, is available for $9 plus shipping from ISU Extension by calling (515) 294-5247 or e-mailing pubdist@iastate.edu. |
The Extension Connection is a quarterly publication of Iowa State University Extension. Laura Sternweis, editor, lsternwe@iastate.edu Nondiscrimination statement and information disclosures Last update: April 2004
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Extension’s
satellite broadcast on BSE attracts
participants in Iowa and 16 other states, along with Internet users
and RFD-TV viewers from across the country. 